Hornets Sign Top NBA Draft Pick Anthony Davis, Austin Rivers

No. 1 draft pick Anthony Davis
agreed to a multiyear contract with the New Orleans Hornets as
the forward prepares to begin the London Olympics with the U.S.
basketball team.

The Hornets also agreed to a contract with guard Austin
Rivers, the 10th overall selection in June’s National Basketball
Association draft, the team said in a statement.

Contract terms weren’t disclosed. Davis will make $13.4
million over his first three seasons and Rivers $5.8 million,
according to the rookie salary scale set forth in the 2011
collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and its players.
First-round draft picks’ first two years are guaranteed, while
teams hold third-year and fourth-year options.

Davis, who helped lead the University of Kentucky to a
national championship as a freshman last season, led the nation
in blocks with 4.65 per game. He averaged 14.2 points and 10.4
rebounds per contest.

The 19-year-old Davis was among the final cuts on the U.S.
Olympic roster before being added to the team after Blake Griffin suffered a knee injury.

Rivers, 19, led the Duke Blue Devils with 15.5 points per
game last season, becoming the third freshman in school history
to do so.